Tauranga sailor Peter Burling will share the helm with Dean Barker for Emirates Team NZ in the Extreme 40 circuit this year.

Burling will be available to helm for only three of the eight regattas, because of Peter and Blair Tuke's Olympic 49er campaign.

Peter Burling and Dean Barker will share the helm in the Extreme 40 circuit.

The first regatta will be held next month.

Dean Barker says the team needs to start developing the sailing team for the 35th America's Cup while integrating recently signed Burling and Tuke into the squad.

'We can't wait around until Oracle releases the Protocol for the 35th America's Cup,” says Barker.

'We need to keep developing and take every available opportunity to compete in cats.”

Barker will be at the helm at the first two regattas – Singapore next month and Muscat, Oman, in March. Burling takes over for the following two regattas China in May and Russia in June. The remaining regattas have yet to be finalised.

Emirates Team NZ last competed on the Extreme 40 circuit in 2011 – an unforgiving introduction to the world of top-level multi-hull racing. Courses are tight and traffic around the marks can be heavy.

'Extreme 40 racing is unlike any other; the teams are very competitive, races are short, the action non-stop and split-second decisions are needed,” says Barker.

Racing takes place over four days at each event: one day of open water racing followed by three days of stadium racing. If the breeze is favourable eight to 10 races can be held each day.

Barker's first Extreme 40 event was the last regatta of the 2010 series.

'It was at Almeria, Spain, and we were last.”

But they learned what they had to do to become competitive in multi-hulls, a massive step towards the 34th America's Cup.

Barker and crew soon had the measure of the boat and the opposing teams in the 2011 circuit and the crew improved with every regatta, winning the Boston event in May.

Burling and Tuke sailed in three Extreme 40 regattas last year before switching their focus to the AC45 and the Youth America's Cup, wining the regatta in September. This year their Olympic campaign will take priority but they aim to make their mark in the Extreme 40s.

Unlike the AC45s, used in the AC45 regatta, building up for the Americas Cup, the Extreme 40 catamarans are non-foiling.

TornadoSport developed the Extreme 40ft catamaran in 2005 and build the boats. The length means they fit into a 40ft shipping container.

The origin of the Extreme 40 is the Olympic Class Catamaran, the Tornado. The Extreme 40 is a scaled-up version of the Tornado, all of the dimensions are relative to the Tornado, and it is just twice as big.

The AC45 World Series finished ignominiously when it was learned the winners Oracle Racing cheated by adding three kg in ballast weight hidden in the dolphin striker.

This year the Extreme Sailing Series™ will race at eight venues: Singapore (February 20-23), Muscat, Oman (March 19-22), Qingdao (May 1-4), St Petersburg, Russia (June 26-29), Cardiff, Wales (August 22-25), Istanbul (September 11-14), The Mediterranean at a port to be announced (October 2-5), Sydney (Dec 11-14).